Chapter 3 Chris’ story

“My master was once the most powerful god in the whole universe,” Chris began, and continued: “But his power was so strong that the other gods were afraid that he would eventually become out of control. So they plotted and secretly killed him. Since then, I have been sealed here in this cave for thousands of years waiting for someone to come, and now you finally came. If you can only...”

Although he didn’t finish his sentence, Benjamin knew what he was about to say. “I’m not getting you out of here,” Benjamin said. “Don’t make such a quick decision,” the demon said, “If you free me, I will give you some powers you’ll find interesting.”

“Why should I believe you?” Benjamin said.

“Oh, so here’s the problem. Don’t worry. I will give you powers that nobody could resist. Here, try this,” Chris said as he pointed to Benjamin’s eyes.

Benjamin saw a purple glare and went blind. Some minutes later he opened his eyes again. He rubbed his eyes but nothing had changed. But as he looked somewhere further, his pupils zoomed in and a smear of purple flashed past. Benjamin found that he could see even the tiniest thing far away. “Amazing!” he cried.

Chris laughed and said: “There is even a bonus ability. If a woman looks at you directly in the eyes, she will fall in love with you immediately and will be willing to do anything for you.”

“Awesome,” Benjamin said. “But I still have to go.”

“Well, well, I believe you still will come back sometime and make that deal with me. But right now I guess that I have to let you leave.” Chris moved aside, and in the coffin, Benjamin saw a secret passage. He got into the coffin and landed in the passage. Then he went on without looking back.

Chapter 4 The great upheaval

The passage led Benjamin to Boston Bay. He swam to the wharf and walked home. His parents burst into tears when they saw him alive. But Benjamin was only interested in the flashlight. As days past, Benjamin grew older and older. He met the love of his life Rosia and she immediately fell in love with him. They got married and had many children. He also figured out how the flashlight worked. In order to prove his hypothesis that electricity exists, he even flew kites while it was stormy.

Then, in the middle of the 18th century, Britain triumphed over France and Spain in the Seven Years’ War, but this led to a financial crisis, as the national debt had doubled to 130 million and the annual cost of the British civil and military establishment in America had quintupled when compared to 1749. Smuggling had been tacitly accepted, but now the British began to consider that it blunted their revenue, so Whitehall decided to ensure that customs duties were unavoidable by passing the Stamp Act in 1765. Colonists condemned the tax because their rights as Englishmen protected them from being taxed by a parliament in which they had not elected representatives. The parliament argued that the colonies were “represented virtually,” an idea that was criticized throughout the empire. The parliament did repeal the act in 1766; however, it also affirmed its right to pass laws that were binding on the colonies. From 1767, the parliament began passing legislation to raise revenue for the salaries of civil officials, ensuring their loyalty while inadvertently increasing resentment among the colonists, and opposition soon became widespread.

Benjamin, now an official worker of Massachusetts, refused to obey the legislation. He called on people of the 13 colonies to be united and encouraged them to fight for their right of personal liberty. As a leader of the 13 colonies he wrote to Britain to ask for independence, but it was refused. Since enforcing the acts proved difficult, the seizure of the liberty on suspicions of smuggling triggered a riot. In response, British troops occupied Boston, and the parliament threatened to extradite colonists facing trial in England. The relationship between Britain and the 13 colonies was increasingly tense.